By The Book
by shannyfish
Summary: Alex makes a stop. #7 - "Count Me In" series
_"The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness and love." ~ Doctor Who_

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"Where are we?"

She'd caught him off guard.

"Have we done Asgard yet?"

When Max spun around and was finally facing her as she set the blue journal on his desk, he was just smiling at her. Alex wasn't sure why, but she'd felt the need to quote River Song to make her entrance. She was just glad that her glaring and threatening of Max's secretary had gotten her in without him being alerted to her presence (which would have ruined the surprise).

"Alex," he breathed as he got to his feet.

It had taken her a few days to settle back into National City and the DEO before she'd finally worked up the courage she needed to go and actually _see_ Max. It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was just that she really still didn't know what to trust as far as her feelings went. Alex had realized that she lived in all these different worlds, the DEO...her life with Kara...the cover that she put up for others...and what she missed most was a partner in life. In those weeks, living those lives that hadn't been theirs in that made up dark future...that was what she'd missed. Max had been a partner in her life, in science and on the relationship side of things.

"Miss me?"

"Every breath."

And even though she couldn't say that she'd missed him every breath of every moment they'd been apart, she had missed him and she'd thought about him throughout the days since they'd been separated. Maybe he was exaggerating or maybe she just wasn't there yet. All she knew was that she had feelings for Max and she wanted to act on them, to start that step towards finding out if they continued and became stronger.

A life.

That's all she wanted.

The one thing Alex had learned from watching Kara with all of her suitors was that you could never share your life with someone (as far as a relationship went) with secrets between you. Right now, she and Max had no secrets. They knew exactly what the other one did for a living, which was such a huge deal for Alex.

"Are you free for dinner?"

"No, I have a date," he said as he moved around his desk.

Alex stared at him, he still had a smile on his face that he didn't seem capable of getting rid of. She wasn't jealous, just waiting for him to continue because she knew that more was coming.

"With you."

Even though they'd talked in Midvale and at the DEO when they'd first been brought back, this was all new to both of them. They had been living these lie lives thinking they were married, but that wasn't the reality they lived in. They'd been on _one_ date (and Alex actually didn't count it as one, but Kara kept insisting that it counted). That wasn't enough to mean that they were married. Legally, they weren't. She'd kept her ring on because when she'd taken it off, emotions had swirled and she'd just felt lost. It was stupid and she didn't understand it, all she could guess was that it meant that she was giving that up.

She wasn't really ready to give up that hope for a life yet.

Her tone and her face went serious as her finger spun her ring on her other hand. "You and I...we're not married...you know that… Even though we have these lives in our heads where we're together...that can't shape the future except to make sure that we avoid it looking like that...the Myriad and the ugly part of it," she rambled. "I didn't mean the us married part. I mean, I'm not saying that is going to happen, it's just that-"

"Time can be rewritten."

He said it so calmly and matter of factly in nearly a whisper. Alex just stared at him for a long moment. She suddenly felt guilty. She'd gone there with this thought in her head that things were going to go well and that she wouldn't feel guilty or overanalyze or anything like that...and here she found herself doubting and second guessing her decision. "Max-"

A finger found her lips, silencing her. "Alex, are you married?"

He picked up the blue journal and pressed it back into her hands and she took it without a question. She knew that he was taking that from 'Doctor Who'. At the same time, though, she saw a double meaning in it. To Max, she still strongly felt like he felt like he was still very much her husband and giving her this distance that she was asking for. He had fallen so deeply into the facade that had tricked them both and Alex had a feeling that he just wasn't ready to give that up. She honestly couldn't blame him. In the reality and time they lived in, no matter what Max did with all of his good intentions, he seemed to just keep making mistakes.

Here he was now, trying to do whatever he could to get to that future he missed.

The one where they were married.

"Spoilers."

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The End.


End file.
